User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage Review
Hey. It's that one guy who talks about video games here again, finally back to talk about.... ...take a guess? That's right, another ''video game, obviously. This time, I'm taking a look at the predecessor to a game I looked at a few months ago, Spyro 2 : Ripto's Rage, also known as Spyro 2 : Gateway to Glimmer in Europe and Australia. This game is a special one, as it seems to be the fan-favorite entry in the Spyro series. So, what do I think? Is it that good, or is Year of the Dragon better? Let's find out. Story This game's story is.... interesting. It starts off right where the first game left off - Spyro, after defeating Gnasty Gnorc, wants to go on a vacation with his best dragonfly friend Sparx. He comes across a portal to Dragon Shores, an amusement park, and decides to go there. Meanwhile, in a magical land called Avalar, Hunter the Cheetah, Elora the faun, and the Professor (a mole) are working on re-routing a portal located in one of the levels, Glimmer. He's doing this in order to bring a dragon to Avalar so they can stop Ripto, a villainous Dinosaur who wants to take over the place. Of course, this dragon ends up being Spyro. Once there, Spyro has no idea where he is. Suddenly, Ripto appears, and when he sees Spyro, says how much he hates dragons. After a fairy distracts him and his accomplice Gulp eats his magic scepter, Ripto flees the scene and swears to take down Spyro. With that, Spyro and Sparx's adventure begins. Sounds great, right? A good platformer plot where you have to take down Ripto and save Avalar from his influence. Works great, huh? Well..... there's a few problems here. For one, the reason why Ripto hates dragons is never explained. It just so happens that he does so that we have a reason to bring Spyro to Avalar. Speaking of that, how does the Professor even get Spyro there? It just so happened that the portal he connected his to was the one Spyro entered at the start of the game. So yeah, he was able to get him there through contrivance. But, the biggest flaw is this. You know how Gruntilda was built up in Banjo-Kazooie, right? She was a massive bitch throughout the whole game, causing trouble in all the levels and fucking with you the whole time, to the point that it was incredibly satisfying when you finally kicked her ass at the end of the game. Well, it seems Spyro 2 was going for a similar kind of thing. Except it doesn't do this nearly as well. Why is that? Well, they somehow failed to do the most integral thing to this kind of plot - Ripto's name is never once mentioned in any of the game's levels, but only in the cutscenes and hubworlds. I don't really know why, because it seems like the simplest thing to get right, but they somehow messed it up. In addition, this game has a pretty weak third-act twist where they make it seem like Ripto dies. Since there's another world left in the game at that point though, he's obviously not dead. I don't know why they bothered with this, because it feels pretty out of place. However, even though this story is kind of a mess, I still find it entertaining as hell. Ripto is a hammy and funny villain who says some of the most outlandish things you'll ever hear, with some great voice acting from Gregg Burger. Characters like Hunter (also voiced by Gregg Burger, by the way) are also entertaining. And finally.... it's the story. In a platformer, I don't really care about story all that much as long as the game itself is good. Graphics Man, for the typically jagged, texture-warping graphics of the PS1, this game looks really nice. It's not quite as good-looking as Spyro 3, but damn does it look nice for the time period. Like the other Spyro games, it uses a special game engine where distant objects are rendered with an increasing number of polygons as you approach them. This leads to an impressive look for a 1999 fifth-generation game. Soundtrack This game has a fantastic soundtrack. It's not quite as good as the soundtracks of, say, most Mario games, Donkey Kong Country 2, Sonic 3&K, and Spyro 3, it's still a fantastic collection of songs in its own right. My favorite tracks include Glimmer, Hurricos, Idol Springs, Dragon Shores, and of course, the credits theme. In addition, the hubworld themes, while not particularly memorable, are extremely calming and make you feel like you're in heaven. Overall, this soundtrack gets an A+ from me. Gameplay So, remember when I said that the gameplay being good is what matters the most in the story section? Good news, the gameplay is quite solid in Spyro 2. For one, the controls are just as refined as in Spyro 3. Everything from the on-ground movement to the flying feels great.... except the ice physics, which are unresponsive, but besides that, this game controls extremely well. Second, the level design is extremely well-done. While not as tightly-paced as the other Spyro games, it's still relatively quickly-paced and the levels are overall fun to run through. No complaints here. Finally, there's tons of variety. There isn't as much as Spyro 3, but still a lot. In addition to the speedways, you have a few minigames in each level, with tons of different playstyles, many of which are a good time. However, there is one thing wrong - the backtracking. Just like Banjo-Kazooie, you have to unlock certain moves to use them. This includes swimming, climbing, and the headbash. Doesn't sound so bad, but then you find out that the moves cost gems, and can only be unlocked in the hubworlds. And since a few minigames require certain moves, you'll have to backtrack to the levels they're in to finish them. This isn't actually the worst thing ever, because the backtracking usually only takes up to ten minutes at most. However, there are a few egrigious cases I will talk about shortly in the difficulty section. Overall, the gameplay of Spyro 2 is solid despite these flaws. Difficulty This game is somewhat on the easy side. Apart from a few levels and minigames, nothing is particularly difficult. In addition, due to the save feature, this game is extremely accessible for newer players, just like all other collectathons I've played. This isn't a bad thing at all, because despite its relatively easy difficulty, Spyro 2 is still a ton of fun to play, and getting all the talismans, orbs, and gems is a good time. The bosses are great as well, especially in comparison to the first game (more on that on my inevitable review of that game). I'm tempted to call them the best boss fights in the trilogy. Each one has a decently challenging but managable attack pattern, the strategy to defeat each one is straightforward and easy to figure out, and they're all fun as hell to take on. The final boss against Ripto is especially great, being a nice challenge while still staying fair. Despite this though, there are a few flaws, as I mentioned earlier. Every now and then, there is an extremely annoying and pace-breaking minigame that only seems to exist to piss the player off. One in particular is the Hunter challenge in Magma Cone, where you have to score more points than Hunter. This is just like that infuriating Mr. Vile minigame in Banjo-Kazooie, but far worse, because of a combination of a camera that doesn't show you the whole playing field and some very uncooperative RNG. The worst offender, however, is one level in particular - Fracture Hills. Fuck this level. It has to be the most annoying collectathon level I've played. Yes, even more annoying than Rusty Bucket Bay from Banjo-Kazooie and Rainbow Ride from Super Mario 64. Why? Well first, the enemies are a massive pain in the dick. You have to be very specific with your attacks, or else they'll land a hit on you. Second, the supercharge sections. The supercharge was fun in Spyro 3, but it's nowhere near as fun in this game. The course in Fracture Hills exemplifies this, with a very punishing course that can fuck your supercharge up at the last second, making you have to do the whole course over again. In addition, one of the gem chests is placed in one of the most infuriating spots to reach, where you have to make a supercharge jump which requires jumping from the very edge of a platform over lava and taking an almost 90-degree turn. These utterly kill the pace of the stage. Third, that Goddamned Alchemist sidequest. It's an escort mission, so of course it's going to suck. The Alchemist is a bumbling fuckhead, walking in circles straight into enemy attack range. In addition, his destination is ''right next to his starting place, making this minigame feel very pointless. But, worst of all, the biggest middle finger of this entire level - there's a second, even more difficult round with Hunter that requires the headbash. And guess what? Since you have to unlock this move in the next hubworld after the one Fracture Hills is in, you'll have to come back to this level later. Ok, whatever, doesn't seem so bad.... until you discover that this means you have to do the first round all over again! Jeez, it was already enough of a punishment to have to do a shitty escort mission, but that's just cruel. So, word of advice - DO NOT DO THE ALCHEMIST MISSION ON YOUR FIRST VISIT. You'll save yourself some frustration this way. "But you can just skip the level and do it later," I hear you say, but no, you can't. This level has a talisman, which is required to unlock the next hubworld. I think I've said enough. Despite these issues, though, Spyro 2 is still a very well-designed game that I enjoyed quite a bit. Conclusion In conclusion, I think Spyro 2 is a great game that holds up wonderfully nowadays. It's one of the better collectathons and one of the best 3D platformers in general. While I still think Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario 64, Sonic Adventure 2, Spyro 3, Banjo-Kazooie, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are better 3D platformers, this game still holds its own and deserves to be remembered alongside those greats. While not the best Spyro game, it sure does come damn close. So, there we go. The review I've been teasing since my Spyro 3 review. I must admit, finally finishing this game today got me in the mood to play some Playstation games. The next two games I've got my sights set on are the first Spyro game and Crash Bandicoot : Warped. I also own Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2 : Cortex Strikes Back, and Pac-Man World, so I'll definitely get to those soon as well. For non-PS1 games, Expect reviews of Donkey Kong Country 3 for GBA, the Ratchet and Clank trilogy and Jak and Daxter : Precursor Legacy for PS2, Super Mario Bros. 2 for NES, Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2 : Six Golden Coins for Game Boy, and Super Mario All-Stars and Yoshi's Island for SNES in the coming months. I still have to buy the Mario Land games and a PS2 memory card for the Ratchet games and Jak, so those reviews will probably come later down the line. Whatever the case, I'll see you guys in the next post, whether it's a review or some other random shit. See you guys then. Category:Blog posts